Pastor’s Corner: “THE GRACE EFFECT”
2 Timothy 2:1 (AMP) – Be Strong – So you, my son, be strong [constantly strengthened] and empowered in the grace that is [to be found only] in Christ Jesus. 1 Corinthians 15:10 (NIV) – 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
We know the scriptures proclaim that God is gracious, but many struggle to believe it. When we look at God’s standard for righteousness in the bible and through His beautiful son Jesus, and see how far we fall short, we find ourselves asking God, “Do you still love me?” or “Why are you so patient with me?”
Grace is so critical in the Christian life. Grace is the unmerited, undeserved favor of God. It is God’s riches at Christ’s expense. It is the desire and power to live for Jesus. It is what saves us – “For by grace are you saved through faith …” (Eph. 2:8). It is what makes us the people God wants us to be. Paul said, “But by the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Cor. 15:10). No one can live the Christian life apart from grace. Paul opened and closed every single epistle with a word about grace. The last verse in the New Testament says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen” (Rev. 22:21). I think it is safe to say that grace is paramount.
Grace is God doing for us what we cannot do ourselves. Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us more. And grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us less. So no amount of religious knowledge or dedication will make one bit of difference to how God loves us; no amount of sin will make a difference either. This is, of course, completely at odds with how the world behaves and how, mostly, we are raised to think.
Here is the sad truth: Many Christians don’t understand grace very well. Many reject the church for a time because they find so little grace there. But they return because they can find grace nowhere else. Many Christians don’t walk with God based on grace. They end up walking with Him based on performance – if I’m doing good spiritually, God loves me, accepts me, and can use me … but if I’m failing in an area of my life, God doesn’t love me, doesn’t accept me, and can’t use me. The performance trap is an easy one to fall into. I know because I have fallen in more times than I can remember.
Maybe you’ve heard countless sermons about grace. Or even read books about grace. But my prayer is that you’ll see this word again for the first time. IT’S GRACE, NOT PERFORMANCE – I remember talking to one dear man saying he wanted to kill himself. He was a Christian but had failed God miserably. He loved the Lord, but he knew there was no way God could still love him. He was so distraught that he wanted to die. What was the core of his issues? He did not believe God loved him, and had fallen into the performance trap. He needed to grow in grace. Grace is not a reward for the righteous, but it’s a gift for the guilty. God loves people because of who God is, not because of who we are. Grace is free only because the giver himself has borne the cost. God doesn’t accept any of us based on performance. He only accepts us based on His grace. The best of us has nothing to commend himself to God. While it is certainly true that the Lord wants us to obey Him and walk in victory, it is also true that we can’t do it without His grace. And His grace – the desire and power to live for Jesus – is available to you and me today. Will you take it?
Lord, help us see, understand and be overwhelmed by Your grace again, as we were the first time. Help us to not simply comprehend Your grace, but live it and give it to others. Enable us today to extend grace to those around us at work, school, home or church, and throughout our community. Lord, Your grace is greater than our hurts, mistakes and circumstances. We are grateful. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
In His Amazing Grace,
Pastor Hamilton & Family